Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Altered Book Pages: Guiding Light

I signed up for Laly Mille's free week-long workshop / preview for her "Layers of Light" class. It was incredibly inspiring. I completed this page in my altered Amber book as a result and I think it might be one of my favourite spreads yet. I didn't follow the exact steps she took for her painting in the class, but I let it lead me to my own guiding light.

Before we began painting, Laly guided us through a meditation to focus on our inner light, our true North star. She gave us some hints and tips for finding and listening to our star. I immediately cleared my desk - the clutter was blocking my flow and I hadn't even noticed until I got rid of it all! I gathered a few items that were really inspiring to me and placed them in front of me. Next, since Laly used tarot cards for her inspiration, I decided to do a 3 card spread using my Klimt deck. Oh. My. Goodness!!!

Normally I wouldn't share this as readings are personal, but just look what turned up! Here are the meanings: past = birth (umm.. hello, I'm on my mat leave right now!); present = identity crisis (totally still finding my place as a mother/artist/scientist); future = hope (THE STARS! I mean, seriously? That's what this entire class is about!). I seriously got chills when I turned up The Stars. Serendipitous.

Anyway, here's my "inspiration board" plus some of the papers I pulled out to start the collage:

That little cog / star-shaped wheel is what guided the shape of my star. I was visualizing it sending rays of light across a dark night sky. And that's exactly what I painted:

I cannot emphasize enough just how much I love this piece! The texture and shimmer make my heart sing. I found it interesting how my inspiration board was very golden but my page ended up bathed in silvery moonlight. Something to explore further for sure!

If you're interested, you can see the steps I took below. I would highly recommend taking Laly's Layers of Light class - she has such an intuitive way of painting and her soothing voice will surely guide you to find your own inner light.